The biggest issue doctors have faced this year is the global COVID-19 pandemic. While doctors have been concerned with their patients’ health, have they been taking care of their own?
What services are in place to support colleagues and medical students in good and bad times?
This is just one of the themes the AMA National Conference will put under the microscope for discussion. In a session entitled, Supporting Doctors’ Health, informed by international experience, we focus on the impact of COVID-19 on the profession and medical students globally as well as in Australia.
2020 in Australia brought bushfires, COVID-19 and floods, which really challenged our doctors and placed them under stressors which would normally be unimaginable. Overseas, we know that COVID-19 was devastating for populations and sadly claimed the lives of medical colleagues globally.
Facilitated by Dr Martin Laverty, AMA Secretary General and CEO of Doctors Health Services Pty Ltd, you will hear from medical colleagues in Northern Ireland; Belfast GP, Dr Rose MCullagh, President of the American Medical Association, Dr Gerald Harmon, Deputy Chair of the Council of the British Medical Association, Dr David Wrigley.
We anticipate a medical student in the Republic of South Africa will also join the panel, as we compare and contrast their experiences with our own Australian experience. The Medical Director at Doctors Health SA Dr Roger Sexton, completes the panel.
For a spot of medico-legal levity, there will be a debate under the banner of: Doctors who should have been lawyers, lawyers who should have been doctors, and really confused doctor lawyers.
Doctor and Lawyer Dr Jessica Dean will be the moderator with:
– The lawyer: Law Council of Australia President Dr Jacoba Brasch QC;
– The Doctor: AMA Federal Vice President Dr Chris Moy and
– The doctor lawyer: Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM, an Australian doctor, lawyer and disability advocate.
If you would like to give a presentation at National Conference, please submit a 300-word abstract for the Rapid Fire Research session to the organisers at https://ama.com.au/natcon/contact
Confirmed presenters will be contacted on Thursday 1 July 2021.
National Conference is open to all AMA members and non-member medical professionals in Australia. Internationally-based medical professionals interested in medico-political issues within Australia are also welcome to register. Go to https://ama.com.au/natcon
